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Speaker 1: Understand the thinking atheist. It's not a person, it's a symbol,

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an idea.

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Speaker 2: The population of atheists this country is going through the.

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Speaker 1: Rule, rejecting faith, pursuing knowledge, challenging the sacred. If I

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tell the truth, it's because I tell the truth, not because.

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Speaker 2: I put my hand on a book and made a.

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Speaker 1: Wish and working together for a more rational world.

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Speaker 2: Take the risk of thinking. Feel so much more happiness.

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Truth Usian wisdom will come to you that way.

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Speaker 1: Assume nothing, question everything, and start thinking. This is the

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Thinking Atheist podcast hosted by Seth Andrews.

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Speaker 2: I was thinking recently about all the things that you

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and I do that make almost no sense, that we've

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simply accepted, we've simply gotten used to. I'm preparing several

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speech ideas for the future. I've always got something percolating, right,

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and I've got one about bad atheist arguments. A lot

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of the meme verse in the atheist culture. It's the

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secular movement. I see a lot of stuff that shared

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out there that I just cannot stand because it's just wrong.

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I mean it's not just toxic and off putting and

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superior and snobby and stupid, but it just factually makes

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no sense. Religion is a mental illness. It is a

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claim that I often see or you know, the reason

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that things are more peaceful on Sunday mornings is because

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the evil people are at church. I actually saw a

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meme that said that are you shitting me? You know,

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it's just so wrongheaded. So I go point by point

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through bad positions and statements that atheists have made, but

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that doesn't feel ass topical. I just did another one

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that I'm going to be touring with about how Jesus

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looks different in different cultures throughout our history, and those

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Jesus has often looked like those who believed in him.

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I'm also thinking about doing one on parental advice, things

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that we were always taught and told that you know,

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we accept it as really good advice, when the truth

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is it's just not life wisdom that on the surface

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makes sense until you stop and think about it. So

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I'm thinking about doing an entire presentation of live speech

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as I head out and speak in different cities, but

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just a few examples of some of the things that

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have been driving me crazy. Advice that's actually bad advice,

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like don't go to bed angry on the surface. I understand,

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try to resolve the conflict before you call it a day.

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You know, don't put it off if there's an opportunity,

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let's see if some kind of resolution can be had.

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On the surface, it sounds really good and I get that,

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but overall, if you dig past the surface layer, it's

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shit advice. If you have been wronged, or if there

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is an injustice or if there is something that is

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outrageous that is happening, you have no obligation to not

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go to bed outraged about it. Go to bed angry.

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Anger is the natural response to the outrageous Why would

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you not be angry? And then also puts the burden

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on you to try to resolve a conflict that may

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not be irresolvable. Let's say you're in the middle of

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an argument with a life partner or a child or

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someone who's being totally unreasonable, even toxic, and somehow you're

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supposed to resolve it just so you don't go to

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bed angry. That may not be possible, it may not

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even be healthy. Never go to bed angry. It's bad advice.

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At the very least, it's extremely reductive advice. And yet

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we've always heard this counselors and pastors and parents are

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telling people, you know, let me give you this wisdom,

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try not to go to bed angry. All natural means

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it's better for you. You are well ahead of me

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on this one, right. I was reading an article by

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immunologist doctor Andrea Love about our war on chemicals. I

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won't eat it if it's chemical. I won't drink it

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if it's chemical. And I'm thinking, good luck with that,

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because everything is chemical, natural good, chemical bad or natural

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good artificial bad is kind of how it has been phrasing.

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You and I, of course, are going through a laundry

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list of so many of the things that are all

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natural that will freaking kill you. And we can all

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think of examples of how science and scientific modifications have

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actually made safer the natural world. You get into it

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a relationship and they say, well, opposites attract. Maybe sometimes

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they do. Sometimes they cause people to clash because they

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have absolutely no common ground. Sometimes people with more in

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common are more or compatible. To say opposites attract, Hey,

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maybe it works with magnets. But this is not sound

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relationship advice. It's not something that you should use for

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a rule book for establishing intimacy with another human being.

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That which does not kill you makes you stronger. What

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a bunch of crap? That is, The idea that trauma,

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pain and suffering and harm and all this stuff develops resilience. Well,

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sometimes sometimes you go out there and you literally do

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have to develop tougher skin than coping mechanisms. You have

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to be able to adapt to a harder environment to survive.

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We see this throughout nature in some contexts, okay, But

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in other contexts we see that there is just simply

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pain and suffering, and we are not stronger. We are weaker,

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and we are beaten down, and we are absolutely defeated

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and miserable and often live much shorter lives. That which

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does not kill us may make us weaker. Another one

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was if you're looking for a life partner, find somebody

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who can't live without you. What a horrible piece of

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advice that is. There's that song I can't live if

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living is without you? Who sings that song? I can't

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live if living is without you? Who sings that song?

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What a terrible song? But because what is the song saying?

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If we're not together, if you break up with me,

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I'm either going to die of heartache or I'm gonna

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freaking off myself. This is not healthy. That's not healthy,

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and that's not something I think you would look for

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in a partner. Well, I don't want to break up

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with this person because they may off themselves. Is kind

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of a bad model for a relationship. Find somebody you

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can't live without, it's just horrible. Find somebody who can

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live without you, but chooses to be with you. There's

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a comedie named Chris Porter and he said, you know,

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I was told I'm supposed to find somebody who can't

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live without me, And he said, that's terrible advice. Living

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with someone like that is like having a puppy that

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can text you. Yeah, that's pretty accurate. Sticks and stones

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may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.

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I don't know who came up with that one, but

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they just need to be kneecapped right now because words. Language,

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I'm telling you, language has the power to destroy people.

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How many people? How many times have you in your

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life been told something? Words, vowels, and consonants are raged

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in a specific order. Something was said to you that

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broke you, broke your heart, devastated you, maybe impacted how

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you felt about yourself or the world around you. How

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many people have struggled throughout their lives. I was watching

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a documentary about the nineteen eighty US hockey team, and

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for those who are not familiar with the story, just

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a real quick setup. For twenty years previously to nineteen eighty,

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the Soviet Union's hockey team was the dominant hockey team

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in the world. They were professional hockey players, that's all

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they did, and they dominated and crushed the competition. They

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played American teams, including the NHL, and crushed the pros.

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They just crushed everybody. And so Herb Brooks, the coach

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of the nineteen eighty team, rounds up this sort of

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scrappy bunch of college kids and he develops a plan

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to actually try and defeat the Soviet Union, something that very,

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very very few people thought was possible. And of course

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many are familiar with the story. You've seen the documentaries.

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There is a Disney film called Miracle starring Kurt Russell.

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It's a great film that's actually pretty true to the

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facts as well. I was impressed with you know, I mean,

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they got really close. But there was a part of

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that story that not a lot of people know. And

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one of the reasons that coach Herb Brooks was so

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obsessed with taking the team to the gold medalist because

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years and years and years before he had been a player,

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and he was on the US Olympic hockey team, and

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the day before they went to the Olympics, he was

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the last player who was cut. They have a few

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extra players and then they have to whittle it down

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to I think twenty players before they go to the Olympics.

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So they start with twenty five, twenty four, twenty three,

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and the night before they go to the Olympics, Herb

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Brooks has called into the office and the coach says,

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I'm sorry, I've got to let you go. You are

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the last member of the team that will be released.

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And he never got to go. And he is home

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and he's watching the Olympics with his parents and he's

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watching as the United States took the gold medal and

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his father looked at her and he said, you know,

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looks like they cut the right player. And it devastated

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Herb Brooks. He carried that with him for decades now.

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Some would argue that it motivated him to greatness, but

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I don't think he needed that I don't think you

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have to wreck somebody in their identity. I don't think

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you have to punish, torture somebody because what they didn't

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quite make the Olympic team. And I think to myself,

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those were words. Sticks and stones may break my bones,

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but words can devastate someone. He carried those words to

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his grave. Just bad advice. Spare the rod, spoil the child,

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horrible advice. I remember some people in my circle were

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defending the spanking of children because well, you know, I

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got spanked all the time, and I turned out fine.

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The eye turned out fine. Defense is a terrible defense

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for doing something. You know what. I rode in a

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car without a seat belt next to glass that wasn't

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a breakable glass, you know, remember the old car glass

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that would they'd shard instead of shatter, So not only

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would the impact kill you, but you would be stabbed

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to death in the process if you were in a

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car accident. Well, you know what, I lived through that era.

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We rode in the back of a pickup truck, standing

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up with a beer koozy in one hand, and we survived.

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We were tougher back then, you know, just bad advice,

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bad advice. Respect your elders. I understand on this surface

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where that comes from. If you have a subordinate a

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young child, that child is not yet equipped to live

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in this world safely, to provide for its own needs

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to a degree it needs to. If respect is not

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the word, it needs to align with the guidelines that

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are put in place. Right, if you just need to

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clean your room, you need to go to bed, but

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at this time you need to do your homework, finish

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your chores and whatever. You will respect the authority that

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I have over you. On the surface, it sounds really good,

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but now we have an entire culture who are there like, well,

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they're your elders. They're your mother, your father, your grandfather,

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your pastor, your president. Respect your elders. Wait a minute,

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so you're telling me that because someone is an elder

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meaning older, especially if they're on the family tree, that

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they automatically get respect by default. I thought respect was

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to be earned. There's a shit ton of people in

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my life who are older, but they're not wiser, they're

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not necessarily good people. So if you walk into a room,

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do I respect you simply because you are elder? Do

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you earn respect? Have you deserved respect? I don't know.

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There's a whole litany of them. Tell me what yours

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are in the comments section, because I might grab a

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few of those and incorporate them if I give the

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speech later on this year or maybe in twenty twenty seven.

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I'm always thinking ahead. These are the things that have

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been bouncing around in my brain, and we would just

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say this is stuff that we think about and do

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all the time without even really thinking why we do it.

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This is not exactly related, but I thought about it

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two days ago. I'm over at the self checkout lane.

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I've just accepted that I am now going to check

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myself out at the grocery store, and I will pay

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the same amount or more for what I am buying.

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I'm being served less. I am actually I am now

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the employee of the store, and I'm paying the same price.

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No discount for me, no employee discount. I've accepted that.

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I've accepted that, even though I have insurance in this country,

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that a single major medical event might financially devastate me

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and I could lose everything. How in the world did

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I get to a point where I've accepted that, even

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if I'm insured, I could be home and ruined forever.

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Someone else says, well, are you in this planned are

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you on that network? We choose your doctor. If you

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don't use our doctor, you have to pay all of

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it or most of it. And if you go over here,

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you're still paying twenty percent of an eighty percent thing

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after the deductible and the thing and the cope and

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what you and the cost of the insurance is how

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much while the CEOs of the insurance companies are making

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tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars. And

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I've just sighed and shrugged and said, ah shit, this

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sucks and accepted it. I've come to the point where

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I don't own the things that I own, and I accepted.

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I rented a movie, actually, I bought a movie online,

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one of those things where would you like to rent

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this film to stream for two ninety nine or would

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you like to buy it for four ninety nine because

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it was an older movie? And I said, well, oh shit,

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I'll buy it extra two bucks. Click, and I realized

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I don't own the movie. I don't have a disc version,

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I don't have it on drive. It's not on my

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hard drive, it's not on a flash drive. It's not

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in any physical form in my life. That streaming company

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can just decide that, oh it's not yours and it disappears.

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It's gone forever. I own it, but I don't own it.

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And I have come to the point where I say, Okay,

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now it is what it is. It is what it is,

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Daylight Savings Time. I just accept it. What a stupid idea.

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It may have had its uses a long time ago.

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I just roll with it. Ah, I guess it's time

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to spring forward or fall back. What a pain in

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the ass Daylight Savings Time is. I've signed up to

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how many do not call lists for my cell phone

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because I'm sick and tired of getting spam. You know

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what I get more of than ever spam? Not just

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phone calls, but texts. I get texts and I can't

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block them because they come from these weird one two

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three plus US DASH eight eight seven whatever numbers I'm

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sure from overseas that are untraceable. And even if you

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do block it, there were five squillion other numbers that

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they can use every day. How many do you get

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a day? I'm thinking I get three, probably get one

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or two calls, and two to three texts that are

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just spammed, and no matter how many I block, I

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still get them. And I've just accepted it. I've just

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accepted it. Eh, it is what it is. I've just

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accepted that I will buy a house and pay for

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it three times. I will pay for it three times.

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What's the going interest rate here in the United States

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right now? I think it's like six or six and

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a half percent. And people are like, yay, six percent,

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So they go and oh, I've got great credit. Wonderful,

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you still get six and a half percent. So you

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sit down and you pay thousands of dollars in closing costs,

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which I think is a scam, shit ton of paperwork. Okay, fine,

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and I'm going to sign here and to sign here,

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and I go through three or four weeks, five weeks

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of submitting proof that I actually deserve to have a home,

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and then once I sign, I'm on the hook for

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I mean, most notes are thirty years. If I start

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working at sixteen, Let's say I retire at sixty five,

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and that ain't going to happen. Well, let's just look

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at I mean, you were spending almost all of your

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working life paying for a house, and you're paying for

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it three times over. You got some principle, but look

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at the interest, look at the insurance, look at the

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property taxes, look at all the fees and incidentals. So

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if you buy a two hundred thousand dollars house, you

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are paying over six hundred grand for it, and we

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just accept it. Social media companies own us, the streaming

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companies own us, the robocollars own us, the insurance companies

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own us, the banks own us, the government owns us,

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and we've just come to accept it. You and I

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sit back and think the United States is dropping tomahawks

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on schools and killing upwards of almost two hundred school

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girls in a single attack. I sort of missed the

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times that we had a congress in a Supreme court.

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Don't you We feel helpless. This is the hand that

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we are dealt, this is what we're stuck with. I'm

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going to be at the no Kings protest on the

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twenty eighth. I'm calling my elected officials, not that they

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give a shit, but fine, but I'm like I am

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now being hand at a world that someone else designed

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my life. They're rules and I become resentful about it,

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But then I participate in that world. How do you

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bust out of the cycle. It sounds good on the

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surface to say I'm just not going to play. That's ridiculous.

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We saw that with non vote in twenty twenty four,

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and Jesus Christ, look where we are now, thank you

316
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very much. How do you maneuver within the system? Can

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00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,599
you bend the system? Can you convert? Subvert the system?

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Every day you and I participate in systems which make

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00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,000
very little sense for us, but make a whole lot

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of sense for someone else. These are the things that

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occupy my mind. What occupies your mind? I am insanely curious.

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Short break your calls next. I just added Nashville with

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Nanocon to the events calendar on the website. A lot

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of stuff in Canada going on this year. But if

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you are interested in one of the things happening this year,

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I see Calgary, Nashville, Ottawa, Ontario, Sarnia, Milwaukee, Huntsville, Alabama,

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and and I think more maybe coming. Go to the

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Thinkingatheist dot com slash events. There are links to the

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conference pages right there the Thinkingatheist dot com slash events.

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Let's go to seven five seven and talk to Sarah. Hello, Hei,

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Welcome to the show, Sarah, But what's on your mind?

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What you want to talk about.

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Speaker 3: I've got this mom Swellen very dearly, and we're both

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on the same side of politics, thankfully. But every time

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I go into a FaceTime with her, all she wants

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to do is bitch, bitch, bitch about Trump. And it's

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like and she's talking about like the end of the

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world kind of stuff and how bad it is. And

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I've actually done it where I've sat a twenty minute

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time of accurt and it's been very successful.

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Speaker 2: Actually, she's mad about Trump.

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Speaker 3: She's anti Trump, but she's taking every piece of news

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like it's like, oh my god, things are she she

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bluestems well out of proportion as she's following some of

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the super biased stuff that means a little too far

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towards like off the left side of the cliff.

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Speaker 2: Basically, well, if you've set a limit and she is

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abiding by the limit, it sounds like she's played by

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your rules. If it's too much, then you can lower

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the limit. You know what, Let's do ten minutes, let's

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do five minutes, and then let's talk about other things.

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You think she would abide that?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, And I actually have to physically set a live

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timer and when it beeps, I say, hey, let's talk

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about the green kids. Let's talk about something else.

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Speaker 4: It sounds like.

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Speaker 2: You solve your own problem. You know, she's abiding with

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those rules, and I think, understanding why you've set the boundary. Mom,

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This isn't healthy. We're not wired to handle the avalanche

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of bad news that's being thrown at us every day.

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They want to overwhelm us. Don't forget to live your

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life because I want to live my life life as well.

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Let's find some balance. I think if she understands why,

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and you've got the stop Watch, that's a win, right.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. And one other point too is you know, in

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terms of physical media, I have completely switched back to

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physical DVDs. Now I'm going on eBay and just buy

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up old dbs.

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Speaker 2: The director Guiermo del Toro has been speaking about how

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the death of physical media actually cheats those who love

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film and has He's encouraged people, you know, get the

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Blu ray, get a hard copy so that it is

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in your possession, which does a couple of things. First

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of all, there are a lot more features on the

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disc versions that you purchase, but then it's you know,

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not something where a third party can arbitrarily pull the

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plug and it vanishes from your life. Ownership means ownership,

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and I think he believes in order to really preserve film,

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we have to preserve it on a personal level. And

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I think I agree and appreciate that.

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Speaker 3: Piracy is back in full sway, and I kind of

382
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support that because I can't afford all the streaming services.

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I simply cannot. I have to pick one maybe, but

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if I want to check out one show or something

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or see if I even like the thing, I'm not

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going to pay a monthly subscription for that anymore. I

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can't do it.

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Speaker 2: I'll let the comment section argue about copyright and all

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of that. I'm not gonna I can't endorse piracy.

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Speaker 3: Really liking something, then I will go out and.

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Speaker 2: Buy it, all right, Sarah, Well, I appreciate you calling

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the show very much.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you much.

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Speaker 2: See you later. Steve is dialing in from area code

395
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eight three zero. Steve, thanks for waiting. Are you there?

396
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Speaker 5: Yeah, I'm here. Thanks for taking my call.

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Speaker 2: Appreciate you very much. Let's talk. What's on your mind?

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Speaker 4: Well?

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Speaker 5: I was just thinking about I live in Texas and

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I live in a pretty red part of Texas, and

401
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I was really excited about the success of James tell Rico,

402
00:23:57,720 --> 00:23:59,119
and it looks like we're going to have a pretty

403
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,720
competitive set for John Cornyn's Senate spot. But I've been

404
00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:06,480
a little turned off because kind of going through Facebook,

405
00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,720
I see tall Rico's Facebook page and a lot of

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00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:12,960
his posts are like talking about how Christian he is

407
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and how Christ is wonderful and I love God and

408
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look at me, I'm a huge Christian. Shouldn't you vote

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for me? And I have kind of conflicting thoughts about that.

410
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I Mean, on one hand, I get it, you know,

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you have to do what you have to do to

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get elected.

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Speaker 4: But on the other.

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Speaker 5: Hand, I'm a little frustrated that we kind of live

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in a society where like even the Democrats have to

416
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proclaim how Christian and how much they love God and

417
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how much they love Jesus in order to get elected.

418
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I'm sure that in Oklahoma you probably see that too.

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Speaker 2: Republican Christianity is really the Oklahoma brand, which you would

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expect Tennis State, which is ranked fiftieth in education. James Tallerico,

421
00:24:52,079 --> 00:24:54,519
I am of two minds on I think for the

422
00:24:54,559 --> 00:24:58,240
same reason that you and many others are Steve, I

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00:24:58,279 --> 00:25:01,720
appreciate his values. I don't think we're going to win

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00:25:01,759 --> 00:25:06,319
the war against Christian nationalism without inter faith efforts. We're

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00:25:06,359 --> 00:25:08,640
going to have to ally with people who have a

426
00:25:08,759 --> 00:25:11,079
God belief, and there are a lot of people who

427
00:25:11,079 --> 00:25:14,039
do who don't think Jesus needs a state church, and

428
00:25:14,039 --> 00:25:18,519
they're on our side for secular government. James tallerco qualifies

429
00:25:19,240 --> 00:25:23,599
one of the frustrating things is Tallarico and others are

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00:25:23,799 --> 00:25:28,599
sort of sanewashing the fact that Christianity is at its

431
00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:33,640
core a dominionist faith. So this happy clappy notion, well,

432
00:25:33,759 --> 00:25:36,920
Jesus would have never judged gay people, and Jesus would

433
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have never wanted to regulate the womb, and Jesus loved

434
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everybody unconditionally. Well that's a noble sentiment, but it's not biblical.

435
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:51,200
And we've seen cherry picking in every culture, in every religion.

436
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But these progressive Christians are selling a Christianity that is

437
00:25:55,279 --> 00:25:58,720
actually a custom fitted faith to their value system. But

438
00:25:58,759 --> 00:26:02,599
it's not the biblical thing. Anybody who says that Jesus,

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00:26:02,839 --> 00:26:06,960
who is God, was pro gay people did not read

440
00:26:07,039 --> 00:26:09,920
the Old or New Testament. And so when I see

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00:26:09,920 --> 00:26:12,039
these people who were out there talking about, well, this

442
00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,359
is not true Christianity. Christian nationalism is not true Christianity.

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I'm like, the whole freaking Bible is a dominionist book.

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The first thing that God did when he created Adam

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was to give Adam dominion over the earth. The entire

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Old Testament is nothing but tribal wars for power and territory.

447
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The chosen people, the idea of but chosen people is

448
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a dominionist theology. Go ye into all the world and

449
00:26:38,759 --> 00:26:43,519
preach the gospel right, make converts. That's dominionist theology. That

450
00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:47,759
is Christianity. So I get frustrated as well. Know, I

451
00:26:47,799 --> 00:26:51,799
appreciate his values, but I wish he wasn't flexing the

452
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Christian angle as much as he was flexing his humanist angle.

453
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,799
And that's exactly what you're saying, right, is that your frustration, Steve.

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00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,319
Speaker 5: Yeah, exactly. I mean I agree with all of that.

455
00:27:02,720 --> 00:27:05,079
You know, I have some friends that are Christian and

456
00:27:05,839 --> 00:27:09,000
very open about it and very liberal, very democrat there,

457
00:27:09,240 --> 00:27:11,119
and they say the same thing and say, well, you know,

458
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,680
Jesus taught love love one another and Christianity is about

459
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,599
being accepting. And I'm thinking, like have you read your Bible.

460
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:21,240
First of all, Jesus doesn't even exist right now. Whether

461
00:27:21,279 --> 00:27:23,960
he existed in the past, he doesn't exist now. And

462
00:27:24,079 --> 00:27:26,559
his teachings are two thousand years old and could have

463
00:27:26,559 --> 00:27:30,240
been manipulated in any which way. So I'm like, why

464
00:27:30,279 --> 00:27:32,920
don't we set the Christian thing aside and just and

465
00:27:33,079 --> 00:27:34,839
you know, be a little bit more humanist about it.

466
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Speaker 2: I'll support tall Ico. I think he's a good man

467
00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,079
with a good heart. I think he's good despite his faith,

468
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:42,359
not because of it.

469
00:27:42,759 --> 00:27:46,079
Speaker 5: Okay, yeah, yeah, me too. And I'd like, I would

470
00:27:46,119 --> 00:27:48,680
love to see, you know, candidates be able to win

471
00:27:48,720 --> 00:27:52,160
big elections without having to dig into the Christianity thing.

472
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:55,319
Speaker 2: It'll be interesting to see how future generations who have

473
00:27:55,400 --> 00:28:00,119
seen the chest pounding Bible bangers and their support of

474
00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:04,759
President Pedophile, you know, how they will respond to all

475
00:28:04,799 --> 00:28:08,480
of this. I know religiosity is on the decline overall

476
00:28:08,519 --> 00:28:11,720
in this country, and I think some of that might

477
00:28:11,759 --> 00:28:15,079
be fueled by the distaste that the thirty and unders

478
00:28:15,079 --> 00:28:18,720
are having watching the older generation line up and stick

479
00:28:18,759 --> 00:28:21,720
their heads right up the ass of Donald Trump, and

480
00:28:21,759 --> 00:28:24,000
they're like, holy shit, I don't want any part of that.

481
00:28:24,079 --> 00:28:28,400
And they're distancing themselves more from fundamental faiths. I think,

482
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:32,160
you know, maga culture may play into a further rejection

483
00:28:32,759 --> 00:28:36,000
of at least organized religion. Steeve, I appreciate your call

484
00:28:36,200 --> 00:28:38,319
and your inputs so much. Thanks for being a part

485
00:28:38,359 --> 00:28:38,799
of the show.

486
00:28:39,359 --> 00:28:40,400
Speaker 5: May I add one more thing?

487
00:28:40,559 --> 00:28:42,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, quickly, I just.

488
00:28:42,519 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 5: Want to let you know, me and my son we'd

489
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:46,880
love to listen to the short Stories podcast as I'm

490
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,039
driving him to school, so I'm really hoping that there's

491
00:28:49,119 --> 00:28:49,799
more of those.

492
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:50,079
Speaker 4: On the way.

493
00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:52,839
Speaker 2: You're very kind. Thank you for that, Steve. Be safe

494
00:28:52,839 --> 00:28:54,640
out there, all right.

495
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:55,039
Speaker 4: Thank you.

496
00:28:56,039 --> 00:29:01,000
Speaker 2: He is referencing my second podcast, True Stories with Andrews,

497
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:05,559
which is formatted kind of formatted after the old Paul

498
00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,920
Harvey rest of the story. They are about four or

499
00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:13,000
five six minutes long. I haven't done very many recently

500
00:29:13,039 --> 00:29:16,160
because quite frankly, I simply have not had the time.

501
00:29:16,279 --> 00:29:18,279
I don't have a staff, I don't have a crew.

502
00:29:18,440 --> 00:29:21,279
I think I'm up to four hundred and fifty True

503
00:29:21,319 --> 00:29:25,200
Stories episodes which I have to go out and discover

504
00:29:25,599 --> 00:29:30,000
and verify and then research and write and record and

505
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,880
upload and do the thumbnails and schedule and do all

506
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,200
of that at times. What three a week, and I

507
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:40,160
think it's been on for almost three years. But it's

508
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:44,079
just so hard to keep up with because I've got

509
00:29:44,119 --> 00:29:47,279
this broadcast which I'm prepping everything for, and then i

510
00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:51,119
just finished the big event with Forrest and Erica, which

511
00:29:51,279 --> 00:29:54,359
I formatted and I produced. I'm getting ready to travel

512
00:29:54,359 --> 00:29:57,279
to Calgary for Weekend reason writing the speech for that.

513
00:29:57,359 --> 00:30:00,720
I'm actually working on another book idea. Oh blah blah.

514
00:30:00,759 --> 00:30:05,640
So I'm overwhelmed. And you know, those shows will continue

515
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:08,200
to release, probably not as often. I don't think I

516
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,759
can get you three a week. I'm actually probably going

517
00:30:11,839 --> 00:30:14,359
to have to take a few months off. But there

518
00:30:14,359 --> 00:30:18,240
are four hundred and fifty archived shows, and I'm really

519
00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,559
proud of them. They're not polarizing, right, They're not about

520
00:30:21,559 --> 00:30:25,200
politics and religion, and they're just stories. It can be

521
00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,559
weird news or science based stuff, a discovery, some crazy

522
00:30:29,599 --> 00:30:33,960
thing that happened weird news, idiot criminals who did something

523
00:30:34,039 --> 00:30:36,960
stupid that got them arrested, you know, just fun stuff,

524
00:30:37,119 --> 00:30:41,519
live stuff, but things that actually happened in our recent

525
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:46,119
and in our very distant history. True stories with Seth Andrews.

526
00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,720
Look it up, subscribe and check out four hundred plus episodes,

527
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:54,079
and I'll try to populate that whenever I can, as

528
00:30:54,119 --> 00:30:58,200
often as I can. But I'm just one man. I'm

529
00:30:58,359 --> 00:31:03,279
just one man. Okay, I've got a four to two

530
00:31:03,359 --> 00:31:06,880
five area code. I'm sorry, I don't see a name.

531
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:08,720
What's your name? What do I call you?

532
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:11,680
Speaker 6: They call me Augie. It's a nickname from the.

533
00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:14,519
Speaker 2: Military, Augie. Let's talk what's on your mind today?

534
00:31:15,319 --> 00:31:20,839
Speaker 6: Preposition one, God gave me type of negative blood. Preposition two.

535
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:26,440
I donate my blood, which equals works. Preposition three. I

536
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:31,440
have been labeled a fool. Conclusion I am God's working fool.

537
00:31:34,200 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 2: I don't understand the propositions.

538
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:40,680
Speaker 6: Preposition not proposition preposition. I'm sorry, not make it any better.

539
00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:43,079
Speaker 2: Help me understand your point.

540
00:31:43,319 --> 00:31:45,960
Speaker 6: The blood type I have, anybody can take it, no

541
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:47,880
matter what your blood type is. You can take my

542
00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:48,680
blood for life.

543
00:31:49,079 --> 00:31:49,519
Speaker 2: Okay.

544
00:31:50,519 --> 00:31:54,680
Speaker 6: Well that's okay. Then two. You know, then, of the

545
00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:59,160
discussion between works and faith, is one required of both required? Well,

546
00:31:59,200 --> 00:32:01,920
I've got the works, and it says I don't believe

547
00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:04,480
I'm a fool, so I'm God's working fool.

548
00:32:05,640 --> 00:32:07,720
Speaker 2: What does being a fool have to do with faith

549
00:32:07,799 --> 00:32:08,319
and works?

550
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:09,319
Speaker 4: Right?

551
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:12,559
Speaker 2: The Bible says faith but it works is dead. So

552
00:32:13,359 --> 00:32:16,960
you are doing a good deed by providing life saving

553
00:32:17,039 --> 00:32:20,960
blood that anyone can use. And what is being a

554
00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:22,119
fool have to do with that?

555
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:26,359
Speaker 6: Well, because I don't believe in God. So but I'm

556
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,799
still doing God's work even I don't believe in them.

557
00:32:29,079 --> 00:32:29,839
Does that make sense?

558
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,079
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're doing good for goodness sake? What does that

559
00:32:33,119 --> 00:32:34,480
have to do with the fool?

560
00:32:35,359 --> 00:32:35,480
Speaker 4: Oh?

561
00:32:35,519 --> 00:32:38,160
Speaker 6: Well, people condemn me for being an atheist. This is

562
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,680
what I'm getting out. I guess I'm trying to put

563
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,319
a positive spin on not believing.

564
00:32:42,960 --> 00:32:43,480
Speaker 4: I guess.

565
00:32:43,759 --> 00:32:45,960
Speaker 6: I guess I got to work on that. Well.

566
00:32:46,279 --> 00:32:48,599
Speaker 2: No, I think we're just trying to understand each other.

567
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:52,000
You know, we're using language for clarity. So you are

568
00:32:52,119 --> 00:32:56,720
providing life saving blood. Other people say that you are

569
00:32:56,759 --> 00:32:59,880
foolish for not believing in God, but you're actually doing

570
00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:04,000
good works that the Bible commands just for its own sake?

571
00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:05,119
Is that close?

572
00:33:06,079 --> 00:33:08,319
Speaker 6: No, that's spot on, And I guess I could add

573
00:33:08,359 --> 00:33:11,519
to that with my blood is blind. It doesn't care

574
00:33:11,559 --> 00:33:14,359
where you're from or where your beliefs are. And so

575
00:33:14,839 --> 00:33:17,559
isn't that kind of like loving always all the time?

576
00:33:17,599 --> 00:33:20,599
I guess, like the Bible claims.

577
00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:22,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess. So you know it's universal. It's a

578
00:33:23,079 --> 00:33:24,039
universal gift.

579
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,039
Speaker 6: Thank you very much. I appreciate it And just one

580
00:33:27,119 --> 00:33:29,319
last thing I'll let you go is nine years ago

581
00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:31,640
you were the first podcast I listened to as far

582
00:33:31,680 --> 00:33:34,640
as the atheist subject goes, and since then listen to

583
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,519
you and all the others and committed the name. The

584
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:41,000
foundation I believe for non belis has really become solid.

585
00:33:41,079 --> 00:33:43,039
It's setting more every day others than you guys. So

586
00:33:43,039 --> 00:33:44,720
I want to say thank you for all that you've

587
00:33:44,759 --> 00:33:45,160
done for me.

588
00:33:45,359 --> 00:33:48,880
Speaker 2: You're very kind. I appreciate you. Augie, be safe, you too,

589
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,279
Bye bye. I see them. It's funny you've been doing

590
00:33:52,319 --> 00:33:55,839
this long enough and you think, am I becoming the fossil?

591
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:59,880
Or will I be the elder Statesman? Well, I ate

592
00:34:00,599 --> 00:34:02,839
and be that guy I listened to him when I

593
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:06,400
was a kid, way back in the day. Or will

594
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:08,840
it be Oh he's been around for twenty years, still

595
00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,440
doing it, Still enjoy the show. I hope it's the latter,

596
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:14,840
But I do hear that I listened to you when

597
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:17,119
I was a kid, and I'm just like, oh, that's nice.

598
00:34:17,119 --> 00:34:20,039
And I walk to the corner and start sobbing, Oh

599
00:34:20,119 --> 00:34:23,880
my god, I'm a fossil, I'm ancient, I'm a dinosaur.

600
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:26,000
And then other people I'm like, well, you know what

601
00:34:26,079 --> 00:34:28,199
a privilege to be able to have been around as

602
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:30,519
long as I've been around. And I saw these young

603
00:34:30,559 --> 00:34:33,000
faces and I'm excited about it. All the fresh blood,

604
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,599
this new energy that we see daily into the movement,

605
00:34:36,679 --> 00:34:40,159
whether it's in the online the YouTube space, the TikTok space,

606
00:34:40,239 --> 00:34:43,480
the podcast space. And there's a lot of people podcasting.

607
00:34:43,559 --> 00:34:47,559
I just saw the statistics four and a half million

608
00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,199
podcasts registered on the planet. I think only about half

609
00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:55,400
a million are considered active, meaning only about half a

610
00:34:55,440 --> 00:35:00,639
million podcasts are publishing an episode or have in the

611
00:35:00,719 --> 00:35:03,719
last sixty to ninety days. But still that's a ton

612
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,199
of content out there. So to continue to be doing

613
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:09,079
what I'm doing, to be a part of the conversation

614
00:35:09,159 --> 00:35:11,280
after all of these years, it really is an honor.

615
00:35:11,519 --> 00:35:13,519
You know, it sounds like I'm giving an award speech,

616
00:35:13,559 --> 00:35:15,079
but it really is to be able to do what

617
00:35:15,119 --> 00:35:17,280
you love and to I think we all want to

618
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:20,119
be relevant, we all want to try to matter. I'd

619
00:35:20,199 --> 00:35:22,920
like to consider myself a storyteller that still has something

620
00:35:22,920 --> 00:35:26,079
to contribute. And I've had the honor bringing in some

621
00:35:26,199 --> 00:35:30,400
really good guests, really smart people, interesting people to have

622
00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:35,079
interesting conversations. So if you're still with me after nine years, Augie,

623
00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:38,920
I'm honored and I thank you so very much for that.

624
00:35:39,079 --> 00:35:41,599
Adrian is dialing in on a web call. Thanks for

625
00:35:41,639 --> 00:35:43,880
your patience. Adrian, Are you there.

626
00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,159
Speaker 7: Hey, it's Adrian. I was thinking if you wanted to

627
00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:50,000
talk about ownership.

628
00:35:51,119 --> 00:35:52,800
Speaker 2: What are your thoughts on ownership?

629
00:35:53,559 --> 00:35:57,360
Speaker 7: Do you think owning facts? It's something that you can

630
00:35:57,679 --> 00:35:58,719
safely say.

631
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:02,320
Speaker 8: That you own that being, and we can only speak

632
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:05,679
I think both of us as dog owners.

633
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:08,159
Speaker 7: I own a dog as well, so you own Linus.

634
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,920
Speaker 8: I mean you're responsible for him. But what gives us

635
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:15,800
the entitlement to say that we owned them?

636
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:19,039
Speaker 7: Because they I think they are entities.

637
00:36:18,639 --> 00:36:19,280
Speaker 9: Of their own.

638
00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:21,840
Speaker 7: They didn't sign up to be our pets.

639
00:36:21,960 --> 00:36:26,039
Speaker 8: They just ended up, by a circumstances to be part

640
00:36:26,079 --> 00:36:26,719
of our lives.

641
00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:30,559
Speaker 2: I think I use the word own only out of necessity.

642
00:36:31,159 --> 00:36:35,119
Linus is my son. Linus is my son. He is

643
00:36:35,159 --> 00:36:38,840
a member of my family, rescued from a hoarding situation

644
00:36:39,000 --> 00:36:44,039
of great neglect and through the Humane Society. We found

645
00:36:44,119 --> 00:36:46,719
him and we adopted him into our lives. So he's

646
00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,559
really one of my kids. He does rely on me

647
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:52,800
for care. He relies on me to be fed and

648
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:55,639
to be kept safe and for love and all those things.

649
00:36:55,719 --> 00:37:00,880
So own is it's an imperfect word. But because I

650
00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,760
have stewardship over and because I am responsible for the

651
00:37:04,800 --> 00:37:07,800
care of the animal by the letter of the law,

652
00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:11,079
I am a dog owner. But I understand that the

653
00:37:11,159 --> 00:37:13,280
language is clumsy. Does that make sense?

654
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:15,760
Speaker 9: Yeah, it makes perfect sense.

655
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:19,920
Speaker 2: I think anybody with a pet in their life, even

656
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:23,559
the word pet for me falls short. I don't think

657
00:37:23,639 --> 00:37:27,280
of Linus and think, oh, he's my pet. He's just Linus.

658
00:37:27,599 --> 00:37:30,280
He's a member of the family, right, And I think

659
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,800
we're looking at the limitations of language. But sometimes you

660
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:37,039
have to use the word own in terms of guardianship

661
00:37:37,119 --> 00:37:42,039
and responsibility. I own the responsibility for Linus and Gracie

662
00:37:42,079 --> 00:37:45,079
and Cat, and so in that way, for lack of

663
00:37:45,079 --> 00:37:48,239
a better word, own is the term that I have

664
00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:48,719
to use.

665
00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:51,800
Speaker 7: Okay, Yeah, I understood, Yeah, and.

666
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:54,760
Speaker 2: I appreciate the call. I got to move on, Okay, yeah, sure.

667
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,679
Sebastian dialing in from Toronto. What's up.

668
00:38:00,199 --> 00:38:05,559
Speaker 10: Fortunately, I have a younger sibling that is seemingly going

669
00:38:05,639 --> 00:38:11,920
down the Jewish conspiracy theory where the Jews are controlling

670
00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:16,159
the world, they control all aspects of our lives, the banks,

671
00:38:16,559 --> 00:38:20,760
all this nonsense. And I don't know how to tackle

672
00:38:20,800 --> 00:38:22,360
this kind of bullshit.

673
00:38:23,159 --> 00:38:26,519
Speaker 2: In what circles is this information coming from. Have they

674
00:38:26,599 --> 00:38:29,639
gone down some sort of online alt right rabbit hole

675
00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:33,199
or deep state QAnon rabbit hole or right wing radio

676
00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:34,599
rabbit hole or I mean.

677
00:38:34,800 --> 00:38:38,920
Speaker 10: I'm not exactly sure. So first there was brown people, right,

678
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:41,519
she blamed brown people for all of her problems. And

679
00:38:41,599 --> 00:38:44,639
now since we're in Canada and then and immigration has

680
00:38:44,679 --> 00:38:48,000
been lowered, there have been less brown people for her

681
00:38:48,039 --> 00:38:49,920
to blame because there are less of them coming into

682
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:53,599
the country. So now instead of brown people, it's Jewish people.

683
00:38:54,239 --> 00:38:56,599
And I'm not sure where she gets this information. I

684
00:38:56,679 --> 00:38:59,679
was feeling it from her boyfriend because he seems to

685
00:38:59,719 --> 00:39:03,840
share lot of these bigoted views. But I'm not exactly sure.

686
00:39:04,519 --> 00:39:07,159
Speaker 2: I don't know the answer to how do I get

687
00:39:07,159 --> 00:39:10,320
someone who is racist and xenophomic and bigoted to not

688
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,039
be racist and xenophobic and bigoted. You know, I don't

689
00:39:14,079 --> 00:39:16,880
think you can control that. I think if you engage

690
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:20,280
in conversations, I think those begin with questions, well where

691
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:21,440
did you get your information?

692
00:39:22,239 --> 00:39:26,360
Speaker 10: My biggest issue is it seems like not the I'm

693
00:39:26,400 --> 00:39:29,360
going to kind of steal man the argument. But I

694
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:31,480
have a feeling she would just say she knows it's

695
00:39:31,519 --> 00:39:34,960
a conspiracy, but she just believes that the Jews control

696
00:39:35,039 --> 00:39:39,079
the world. She believes it regardless of any information that

697
00:39:39,199 --> 00:39:41,599
may or may not exist. I feel like that'll be

698
00:39:41,639 --> 00:39:44,079
my issue. How do I tackle just a belief?

699
00:39:44,719 --> 00:39:47,440
Speaker 2: This is the challenge we have when dealing with fundy

700
00:39:47,559 --> 00:39:51,719
religions and other, you know, political issues that are not

701
00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:55,039
rooted in reality. How do you get somebody who is

702
00:39:55,079 --> 00:39:57,880
not based in reason to see reason right? Who was

703
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:00,079
it who said that trying to reason with the and

704
00:40:00,199 --> 00:40:03,960
reasonable is like administering medicine to the dead, And I

705
00:40:04,039 --> 00:40:09,239
understand that frustration. I'm paraphrasing who said that. Anyway, I

706
00:40:09,519 --> 00:40:12,679
don't know that the burden is on you to make

707
00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:16,360
her not racist. It sounds to me like she's kind

708
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:16,880
of eager.

709
00:40:17,159 --> 00:40:21,599
Speaker 10: But I just can't let my younger sister go down

710
00:40:21,719 --> 00:40:22,440
this rabbit hole.

711
00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:26,079
Speaker 2: It's just I think she definitely needs to know that

712
00:40:26,199 --> 00:40:28,599
you think it is wrong. I think she needs to

713
00:40:28,599 --> 00:40:31,679
be challenged in a very direct way. But I wouldn't

714
00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:33,960
challenge her with an expectation that she's going to have

715
00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:37,639
an epiphany and throw off her bigoted attitudes and follow

716
00:40:37,719 --> 00:40:41,960
you off into egalitarian vill It usually doesn't happen that way,

717
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,320
but it is important that she be challenged and know

718
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:46,000
that you find it offensive.

719
00:40:46,360 --> 00:40:48,880
Speaker 10: Okay, yeah, I appreciate that.

720
00:40:49,159 --> 00:40:51,119
Speaker 2: I'd like to be able to walk in and say,

721
00:40:51,519 --> 00:40:53,800
how can you think this? This makes no sense, it's

722
00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:56,840
not rooted in reason. Here's the evidence, and someone would

723
00:40:56,880 --> 00:41:00,519
immediately say you're right. But it almost never happens that way.

724
00:41:00,599 --> 00:41:03,480
You can plant seeds, but I think in this measure,

725
00:41:03,519 --> 00:41:06,800
it's probably more about you establishing that you feel it's

726
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:10,480
wrong on moral grounds, and if she can't substantiate it,

727
00:41:10,559 --> 00:41:12,079
that makes the problem even worse.

728
00:41:12,159 --> 00:41:14,920
Speaker 10: Okay, yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks three time.

729
00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:19,519
Speaker 2: I appreciate you, Sebastian hanging there. It was Thomas Paine

730
00:41:20,320 --> 00:41:24,000
who wrote in the American Crisis, to argue with a

731
00:41:24,039 --> 00:41:27,360
man who has renounced the use and authority of reason,

732
00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:32,000
and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity and contempt is

733
00:41:32,159 --> 00:41:36,800
like administering medicine to the dead. That was going to

734
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:41,800
drive me crazy. Thomas Pain short break, more calls next.

735
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:51,840
I've had about your people, send me suggestions for guests

736
00:41:51,960 --> 00:41:54,960
on the show. I've had so many wonderful guests on

737
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,039
this broadcast, and I'm always on the hunt for more.

738
00:41:58,119 --> 00:42:01,960
I've obviously got my selection lined up for twenty twenty six,

739
00:42:02,000 --> 00:42:03,880
but if there's somebody that you would like to hear

740
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:08,000
on the show. Realistically, I'm a small fish. There's a

741
00:42:08,039 --> 00:42:11,559
podcast everywhere and these big name A listeners are going

742
00:42:11,599 --> 00:42:13,800
to get a thousand request a week. But I mean,

743
00:42:13,800 --> 00:42:16,159
if there's somebody that you would like to see me

744
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:19,519
have a conversation with, let me know. You can leave

745
00:42:19,559 --> 00:42:23,079
that in the commons section. I would be insanely curious.

746
00:42:24,199 --> 00:42:27,599
Let's talk to Steve, dialing in from nine to seven zero. Steve,

747
00:42:27,639 --> 00:42:29,320
thanks for your patience. Are you there?

748
00:42:29,760 --> 00:42:31,440
Speaker 4: Yeah, nice to talk to you.

749
00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:33,079
Speaker 2: Seth, Yeah you too. What's up?

750
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:35,679
Speaker 4: I think a lot of this has been covered already,

751
00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:40,440
but you had a broadcast the other day about why

752
00:42:41,159 --> 00:42:45,000
mega people cannot be converted or why they still believe

753
00:42:45,079 --> 00:42:48,840
the things they do when they're presented with obvious facts

754
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:53,199
that trump is doing what he's doing. And when I

755
00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:56,639
started to really get frustrated about it and know people

756
00:42:56,679 --> 00:43:01,480
that are still in this mega sphere of thinking, I

757
00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:05,280
finally just came to the conclusion that it's a tribal thing.

758
00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,559
It's a peer pressure thing. That people are more afraid

759
00:43:08,599 --> 00:43:12,320
of being thrown out of their group losing their friends

760
00:43:12,360 --> 00:43:17,239
than they are about facing reality. So they're they will

761
00:43:17,559 --> 00:43:22,840
continue to support this insanity even though they know it's wrong,

762
00:43:23,039 --> 00:43:26,440
but they don't care because everybody else in their group,

763
00:43:26,480 --> 00:43:28,840
and everybody else is going along with it. It's like,

764
00:43:29,239 --> 00:43:32,440
you know, ancient tribe of people having to sacrifice the

765
00:43:32,519 --> 00:43:34,760
version to the volcano God. You know they're going to

766
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:36,679
go along with it, even though they know it's crazy,

767
00:43:36,719 --> 00:43:38,559
but they got to do it because everybody else in

768
00:43:38,599 --> 00:43:40,599
their group is doing it, and that's what we're stuck with.

769
00:43:40,719 --> 00:43:42,760
So there's no point in trying to even talk to

770
00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,480
these people, I think anymore. I think it's a lost cause,

771
00:43:46,039 --> 00:43:50,239
So fuck them.

772
00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:52,840
Speaker 2: A lot of people have probably felt that in their heart.

773
00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:56,320
I'm going to continue to have some conversations like the

774
00:43:56,320 --> 00:43:59,199
one I had yesterday with a Trump voter, a very

775
00:43:59,239 --> 00:44:02,239
direct conversation I didn't expect to really make a dent.

776
00:44:02,360 --> 00:44:05,320
I think mostly for me these days, I just want

777
00:44:05,360 --> 00:44:08,239
them to see pushback. I want them to know that no,

778
00:44:08,840 --> 00:44:11,719
I think this is wrong. It is wrong on every level.

779
00:44:12,000 --> 00:44:14,599
I stand against it. You need to know about it,

780
00:44:14,639 --> 00:44:17,360
and I want you to know why. And for me,

781
00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:19,079
you know that's had to be enough.

782
00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:20,039
Speaker 3: Yeah.

783
00:44:20,079 --> 00:44:23,440
Speaker 4: I just think it's kind of pointless anymore to have

784
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,239
even to do what you're doing, because these people are

785
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:30,960
I think they're just basically afraid that if they don't

786
00:44:30,960 --> 00:44:35,239
go along with what they think the authority. It's the

787
00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:39,320
same reason people are stuck in their religious beliefs, because

788
00:44:39,400 --> 00:44:43,239
they're afraid not to believe it in religion, they think

789
00:44:43,280 --> 00:44:45,559
they're going to go to hell. I don't know what

790
00:44:45,599 --> 00:44:49,000
the point is in trying to even communicate with these

791
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:52,159
people anymore. They make me very angry, and I'm afraid

792
00:44:52,159 --> 00:44:55,119
I'm going to blow my top and punch them in

793
00:44:55,119 --> 00:44:55,519
the face.

794
00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:58,280
Speaker 2: Well, let's not do that. Look, I'm a guy who

795
00:44:58,400 --> 00:45:01,400
was reasoned out of his faith. Now, granted, I had

796
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:04,440
to really take the reins in my own mind and heart,

797
00:45:04,599 --> 00:45:07,400
but it was when I was presented with reason that

798
00:45:07,519 --> 00:45:10,199
I began to explore whether or not what I was

799
00:45:10,280 --> 00:45:14,599
believing made sense, and I still think those conversations need

800
00:45:14,639 --> 00:45:17,800
to be had. If I can be rescued, other people

801
00:45:17,920 --> 00:45:21,159
might be able to be rescued as well. But there

802
00:45:21,199 --> 00:45:23,559
are some in my life that I have seen who

803
00:45:23,559 --> 00:45:27,800
are such closed systems and maybe just awful people that

804
00:45:27,840 --> 00:45:30,639
I don't give them time, energy, oxygen other than to

805
00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:34,280
say I disagree. I think this is morally wrong. I

806
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:37,079
want you to know why I think it's morally wrong.

807
00:45:37,400 --> 00:45:39,519
But I don't waste any of my time, energy or

808
00:45:39,639 --> 00:45:42,800
oxygen trying to convince them, because life is short and

809
00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:46,519
I think my energy is used better elsewhere. Steve, I

810
00:45:46,519 --> 00:45:48,719
appreciate your call very much. Thanks for being a part

811
00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:49,199
of the show.

812
00:45:49,639 --> 00:45:51,880
Speaker 4: Yeah, thank you, sir, all right, get you later.

813
00:45:52,880 --> 00:45:55,119
Speaker 2: What was the show we did last time? If we

814
00:45:55,159 --> 00:45:58,320
can't convince them, should we shame them? I still don't

815
00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:02,519
know the answer to that question either. I've got two three?

816
00:46:02,679 --> 00:46:04,719
One is it Jam?

817
00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:07,239
Speaker 9: Yes, that's Jam. Can you hear me?

818
00:46:07,440 --> 00:46:08,679
Speaker 2: I can? What's on your mind?

819
00:46:09,559 --> 00:46:09,679
Speaker 9: Well?

820
00:46:09,719 --> 00:46:10,280
Speaker 4: The two things?

821
00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:12,719
Speaker 9: One is a follow up to the guy with his sister.

822
00:46:12,840 --> 00:46:15,679
If he's still listening to it, really present a different

823
00:46:15,719 --> 00:46:19,559
conspiracy is what I say to do because what we're

824
00:46:19,639 --> 00:46:22,400
being done is what the reason for this is. Powerful

825
00:46:22,440 --> 00:46:25,920
people are using our race, our ethnic groups, our tribes,

826
00:46:26,000 --> 00:46:28,960
our gender to divide us from each other to gain

827
00:46:29,039 --> 00:46:32,960
power over us. That's a real conspiracy. They're really actually

828
00:46:33,199 --> 00:46:36,000
people doing that, working on that to make that happen.

829
00:46:36,079 --> 00:46:39,719
We see that in plain sight and presented to these girls.

830
00:46:40,039 --> 00:46:42,440
Let her know, Look, you're being used. If you're being

831
00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:46,480
divided from other regular people, then you're the tool. You know.

832
00:46:46,480 --> 00:46:49,000
You're not on the right side of it, You're being manipulated.

833
00:46:49,599 --> 00:46:51,800
That's the one. The other thought that I had and

834
00:46:51,840 --> 00:46:55,360
then I'll let you you know, talk about it offline,

835
00:46:56,280 --> 00:47:00,639
was this end of Time's stuff going on being told

836
00:47:00,679 --> 00:47:05,039
to soldiers in this Iran War battle. I used to

837
00:47:05,119 --> 00:47:08,159
think that most of politicians and things like this really

838
00:47:08,199 --> 00:47:11,840
knew better that they just knew the return of Jesus

839
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:14,440
and all that stuff was just stuff that appealed to

840
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:16,760
the people, but that they didn't really believe it. And

841
00:47:16,800 --> 00:47:19,280
now I'm trying to think, what the heck, how crazy

842
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:21,920
do you have to be to think that you're going

843
00:47:22,000 --> 00:47:25,519
to force God to send Jesus back by doing all

844
00:47:25,559 --> 00:47:27,800
the things that you think are supposed to happen. It's

845
00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:32,480
crazy anyway, that's all. Thanks for the show. I'll pull

846
00:47:32,599 --> 00:47:34,400
if you I'll wait for seconds see if you have

847
00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:36,199
any other comment questions.

848
00:47:36,920 --> 00:47:38,840
Speaker 2: Let me chew on it for a second. Jan But

849
00:47:38,920 --> 00:47:42,079
I appreciate you, you know, dropping that comment. It's something

850
00:47:42,119 --> 00:47:44,599
to chew on. But thank you very much for being

851
00:47:44,599 --> 00:47:49,039
a part of the show. No jam's already gone. I

852
00:47:49,079 --> 00:47:52,000
think we should stop letting people who are cheering for

853
00:47:52,079 --> 00:47:55,000
the end of the world. We should stop letting them

854
00:47:55,039 --> 00:47:58,960
be in charge of global policy. Don't you think I

855
00:47:58,960 --> 00:48:01,119
don't want someone who won it's the rapture to happen,

856
00:48:01,320 --> 00:48:03,880
who wants the Book of Revelation to activate. I don't

857
00:48:03,880 --> 00:48:08,159
want that person determining our relationship with Israel, with Mett

858
00:48:08,159 --> 00:48:11,119
and Yahoo, I don't want to do I would rather

859
00:48:11,159 --> 00:48:14,559
not have that. And the divide and conquer thing is

860
00:48:14,639 --> 00:48:19,679
absolutely accurate. Was it who was the political cartoonists who

861
00:48:19,760 --> 00:48:21,920
saw the king standing on the balcony and he says,

862
00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:24,800
all we have to do is convince the pitchfork people

863
00:48:25,599 --> 00:48:28,800
that the torch people want to take their pitchforks, and

864
00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:32,000
then vice versa. Le let's convince the torch people that

865
00:48:32,039 --> 00:48:34,679
the pitchfork people want to take their torches. In other words,

866
00:48:34,679 --> 00:48:36,360
they want to come and take what you have. Let's

867
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:39,320
pit them against each other. Let's splinter and divide them,

868
00:48:39,559 --> 00:48:41,679
and then we can do whatever the hell we want.

869
00:48:41,760 --> 00:48:45,199
Divide and conquer. It is an effective strategy. Chris is

870
00:48:45,239 --> 00:48:48,639
dialing in from four to seven eight. Chris, thanks for calling.

871
00:48:48,679 --> 00:48:50,280
Speaker 4: What's up, hey, Sef.

872
00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:50,840
Speaker 9: How's it going.

873
00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:52,679
Speaker 2: I'm good. Let's talk what's on your mind?

874
00:48:53,199 --> 00:48:53,519
Speaker 4: Okay?

875
00:48:53,559 --> 00:48:56,480
Speaker 11: So I work for the government. I work for CE.

876
00:48:56,559 --> 00:48:59,360
I don't want to say particularly where, but something happened

877
00:48:59,360 --> 00:49:01,840
at work the other day. I live in Georgia and

878
00:49:01,880 --> 00:49:05,760
it's you know, heavily Republican pretty much everyone I'm surrounded by,

879
00:49:05,840 --> 00:49:07,920
and so that happened at work the other day just

880
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:11,199
had me aggravated. And just so, there's two guys in

881
00:49:11,239 --> 00:49:13,079
my shops. They were kind of arguing about, you know,

882
00:49:13,079 --> 00:49:15,719
some political stuff, and this guy said something about how

883
00:49:15,719 --> 00:49:18,519
we are pretty much all immigrants here, kind of implying

884
00:49:18,519 --> 00:49:22,119
that our ancestors are immigrant, and the other guy he

885
00:49:22,199 --> 00:49:26,119
got so like irrationally upset about it, and he was like,

886
00:49:26,199 --> 00:49:28,639
my dad's daddy was my dad his dad, and his

887
00:49:28,719 --> 00:49:31,480
daddy was born here. I'm not no fucking immigrant, Like,

888
00:49:31,519 --> 00:49:34,360
he was very upset about it, and all he said was,

889
00:49:34,599 --> 00:49:37,199
we're all immigrants, and it just it just made me

890
00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:39,159
think of something I heard George call and say when

891
00:49:39,159 --> 00:49:42,480
I was young. He said something about how pride should

892
00:49:42,519 --> 00:49:45,360
be reserved for your own actions or something along the

893
00:49:45,360 --> 00:49:47,239
lines of that, and I was just curious on your

894
00:49:47,239 --> 00:49:47,800
thoughts on it.

895
00:49:48,199 --> 00:49:51,599
Speaker 2: Well, I think we are all immigrants. I love the

896
00:49:51,639 --> 00:49:54,679
idea that people say that they were America born and

897
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:58,440
bred and somehow that makes them better, like an accident

898
00:49:58,480 --> 00:50:00,719
of birth. Oh wonderful. Yeah, you have dount of your

899
00:50:00,719 --> 00:50:05,519
mom's vagina at a specific geographical location, and therefore you

900
00:50:05,599 --> 00:50:06,000
are now.

901
00:50:07,039 --> 00:50:09,840
Speaker 11: I never found that it never seen right to me.

902
00:50:09,920 --> 00:50:12,159
Where you know, where you were born, Why does that

903
00:50:12,199 --> 00:50:14,840
give you right to the land. It seems more of

904
00:50:15,159 --> 00:50:18,440
a morality thing to me, not where your parents had set.

905
00:50:19,599 --> 00:50:23,239
Speaker 2: Loving your country I think can be wonderful. Like you know,

906
00:50:23,320 --> 00:50:26,480
in some ways, I do love my country. I wanted

907
00:50:26,519 --> 00:50:30,480
to see the best version of itself realized. I see

908
00:50:30,519 --> 00:50:33,559
the potential, you know, I see that the American experiment,

909
00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:36,599
flawed as it was, still has a lot of wonderful,

910
00:50:36,679 --> 00:50:40,320
meritorious things about it. I think the potentials are there,

911
00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:45,519
but this idea of national pride. National pride kind of

912
00:50:45,599 --> 00:50:49,639
bugs me. That's why things like loyalty, oaths, a pledge

913
00:50:49,639 --> 00:50:52,960
of allegiance, all of these sort of chest pounding anthems

914
00:50:53,000 --> 00:50:56,679
that celebrate America really leave a bad taste in my mouth.

915
00:50:56,880 --> 00:50:59,679
We're a citizen of this country, but I find myself

916
00:50:59,719 --> 00:51:02,800
equal wanting to be a citizen of the world. And

917
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:05,079
I don't think that's unhealthy at all. In fact, I

918
00:51:05,079 --> 00:51:07,039
think that's a better model. Chris.

919
00:51:07,320 --> 00:51:10,760
Speaker 11: Yeah, it to be reserved for something you did yourself,

920
00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:13,320
you know, not not in the place you were born,

921
00:51:13,639 --> 00:51:16,920
or even a heritage thing like where your family was from.

922
00:51:17,039 --> 00:51:19,760
You know, I just never understood that. I grew up

923
00:51:20,000 --> 00:51:22,000
my dad was military, so I grew up all over

924
00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:24,440
the place and all the places I lived. You know,

925
00:51:24,480 --> 00:51:27,199
I met a lot of immigrants and immigrant families, and

926
00:51:27,239 --> 00:51:30,159
they always seem to be good people to me. Like

927
00:51:30,559 --> 00:51:33,239
they would move here and they would have these small

928
00:51:33,239 --> 00:51:36,719
communities in different places, and people would treat them kind

929
00:51:36,719 --> 00:51:37,239
of badly.

930
00:51:37,360 --> 00:51:39,719
Speaker 2: You know, who was it who said one of the

931
00:51:39,719 --> 00:51:43,760
greatest cures for bigotry is travel, To travel to the

932
00:51:43,800 --> 00:51:46,480
places that you had never been and meet people you

933
00:51:46,559 --> 00:51:49,800
had never previously met and be introduced to the rest

934
00:51:49,800 --> 00:51:50,400
of the world.

935
00:51:50,880 --> 00:51:53,440
Speaker 11: And just in my own life, of the immigrants I've met,

936
00:51:53,719 --> 00:51:55,440
they're good people. It seems like.

937
00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:59,960
Speaker 2: There's another line. I would rather lend a helping hand

938
00:52:00,119 --> 00:52:04,119
to an immigrant who crossed a river to be safe

939
00:52:04,159 --> 00:52:07,119
and free than I would for a bigot who lived

940
00:52:07,119 --> 00:52:10,159
across the street who wouldn't help an immigrant. It's all

941
00:52:10,199 --> 00:52:13,159
about our humanity. Yeah, Chris, So that's good stuff. I

942
00:52:13,159 --> 00:52:16,280
think pride has to be merit based. If I'm proud

943
00:52:16,320 --> 00:52:18,880
of you, I'm proud of an accomplishment of my own

944
00:52:19,400 --> 00:52:22,559
that's one thing, But proud to be born here, proud

945
00:52:22,599 --> 00:52:25,880
to be white, proud to be Christian. To me, I

946
00:52:25,920 --> 00:52:29,360
don't buy that. I think it's unhealthy. Yes, all right, Chris,

947
00:52:29,559 --> 00:52:32,840
thank you for calling the show today. Yep, we'll see

948
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:37,599
you later. Ray is dialing in from three zero one. Hi, Ray,

949
00:52:37,679 --> 00:52:39,679
thanks for waiting. What's up, Hi, Seth.

950
00:52:40,199 --> 00:52:43,760
Speaker 12: I was watching the news earlier in the week or

951
00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:48,119
last week, and Fox News showed a video from like

952
00:52:48,400 --> 00:52:51,719
twenty sixteen, but the audience would assume it was from

953
00:52:51,920 --> 00:52:52,519
this year.

954
00:52:53,360 --> 00:52:56,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, let me set that up, Ray real fast. There

955
00:52:56,559 --> 00:53:02,480
was a video of the dignified transfer of dead American soldiers,

956
00:53:02,719 --> 00:53:04,840
you know, those who were killed after we had started

957
00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:10,159
a war with Iran. And at the dignified transfer, as

958
00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:14,440
the flag covered caskets were brought off of the aircraft,

959
00:53:14,480 --> 00:53:17,840
Donald Trump stood there in the procession with the freaking

960
00:53:18,039 --> 00:53:22,000
white ball cap on ball cap that he sells on

961
00:53:22,119 --> 00:53:25,559
his store that he is using to pitch him his brand.

962
00:53:25,679 --> 00:53:28,719
He's sitting there wearing a freaking white ball cap and

963
00:53:28,760 --> 00:53:32,079
people are like, you got to be shitting me, unbelievable

964
00:53:32,119 --> 00:53:35,719
amounts of disrespect. Fox News covers the story of the

965
00:53:35,760 --> 00:53:40,480
Dignified Transfer, but they did not show the actual video

966
00:53:40,719 --> 00:53:45,119
from this recent event. They showed an archived video from

967
00:53:45,199 --> 00:53:49,320
a different dignified transfer where Trump did not have the

968
00:53:49,480 --> 00:53:53,880
hat on. They lied outright to their audience and only

969
00:53:53,920 --> 00:53:57,880
apologized when they got busted, and even then did not

970
00:53:58,079 --> 00:54:01,559
show the correct video with the ball cap. I had

971
00:54:01,599 --> 00:54:05,199
to give that backstory. Ray, go ahead, continue your story.

972
00:54:05,679 --> 00:54:08,960
Speaker 12: So my thinking is not a lot we can do

973
00:54:09,039 --> 00:54:12,679
about this, but maybe there's a little bit we could have.

974
00:54:13,119 --> 00:54:14,920
And I don't think we have an agency that covers

975
00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:18,960
both broadcasts and cable, but we could have an agency

976
00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:22,000
that covers news. I'd say mainstream news in this case,

977
00:54:22,360 --> 00:54:26,519
and required truth and labeling. So if a news show,

978
00:54:27,079 --> 00:54:32,119
TV news show shows a video, it has to label

979
00:54:32,159 --> 00:54:37,320
it fine, date, place, and if they don't or if

980
00:54:37,320 --> 00:54:41,320
they mislabel it, they'll have to show the right version.

981
00:54:41,880 --> 00:54:44,639
They can't just say oh, my mistake and not show

982
00:54:45,159 --> 00:54:48,519
at the same time next news broadcast. They have to

983
00:54:48,559 --> 00:54:50,800
show the right video with the right label and say

984
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:53,000
this is what we're supposed to show you. Now. The

985
00:54:53,320 --> 00:54:56,960
monetary fees is enough to motivate a good enough finality

986
00:54:57,079 --> 00:54:59,199
so they don't mess around. But I thought that this

987
00:54:59,199 --> 00:55:01,719
would be a right step in the right direction. Require

988
00:55:01,800 --> 00:55:04,199
truths in labeling, no matter whether the news is on

989
00:55:04,440 --> 00:55:07,119
cable or internet or TV.

990
00:55:07,719 --> 00:55:09,920
Speaker 2: Might be a piece of the puzzle, it doesn't stop

991
00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:14,039
them from removing the context if they show up, like

992
00:55:14,440 --> 00:55:17,920
there was a comment that was posted I'm trying to

993
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:22,159
remember what it was from James tallerico politician down in Texas,

994
00:55:22,719 --> 00:55:26,719
and only the first part of the sentence was broadcast

995
00:55:27,280 --> 00:55:29,840
and it gave a completely different context because he had

996
00:55:29,840 --> 00:55:32,599
then come back and he'd finished the thought, making it

997
00:55:32,880 --> 00:55:35,719
mean something totally different. So they can get the time

998
00:55:35,719 --> 00:55:39,079
and the date stamp correct, but they still can be dishonest.

999
00:55:39,119 --> 00:55:42,559
But you know, an accurate stamp of the who, what, where,

1000
00:55:42,559 --> 00:55:45,519
and when might be a piece of the larger puzzle.

1001
00:55:46,119 --> 00:55:48,599
Speaker 12: That's a good point in context. Would be another way

1002
00:55:48,639 --> 00:55:50,320
they use this misuse this.

1003
00:55:50,880 --> 00:55:54,719
Speaker 2: Perhaps if now that we have linkable stuff on our news,

1004
00:55:54,800 --> 00:55:57,320
you know, people can click and go deeper, maybe there

1005
00:55:57,320 --> 00:55:59,559
should be a requirement to be able to pull up

1006
00:55:59,599 --> 00:56:05,639
the higher event, the entire speech, the entire presentation, whatever

1007
00:56:05,679 --> 00:56:09,639
it is, and say for the whole thing, uninterrupted, uncut

1008
00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:13,480
in its entirety. You can click here for reference. That

1009
00:56:13,599 --> 00:56:16,519
might be another piece of the puzzle that gives context.

1010
00:56:16,599 --> 00:56:19,039
Do I have a lot of faith people would actually

1011
00:56:19,159 --> 00:56:21,840
do that. I don't know. We were not a very

1012
00:56:21,880 --> 00:56:25,199
patient culture. We want it fast, we want it on TikTok,

1013
00:56:25,239 --> 00:56:27,000
we want it in twelve seconds, and we want to

1014
00:56:27,000 --> 00:56:28,119
be validated by it.

1015
00:56:28,199 --> 00:56:31,199
Speaker 12: Right, Yes, and I like that. I also would require

1016
00:56:31,239 --> 00:56:33,880
that the link take you to that spot in the

1017
00:56:34,039 --> 00:56:36,239
full video, so you can go a little back and

1018
00:56:36,280 --> 00:56:38,360
a little forward, but it starts at the right place.

1019
00:56:38,440 --> 00:56:39,199
You don't have to search.

1020
00:56:39,599 --> 00:56:41,880
Speaker 2: That's smart. See if they would just put you in

1021
00:56:41,960 --> 00:56:44,880
charge of things, right, you know, the world would be fixed.

1022
00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:46,719
You and me.

1023
00:56:47,360 --> 00:56:48,480
Speaker 12: I'm not a good manager.

1024
00:56:48,760 --> 00:56:51,159
Speaker 2: So all of this audience, okay, they would put all

1025
00:56:51,239 --> 00:56:54,679
of this community in charge of the world. It's fixed tomorrow.

1026
00:56:54,760 --> 00:56:58,199
I'm just saying, they just call me, everybody call us,

1027
00:56:58,440 --> 00:57:00,960
let us take the wheel. Can at least do better

1028
00:57:01,000 --> 00:57:05,440
than what's being done. But that's interesting. I wish you know,

1029
00:57:05,519 --> 00:57:07,840
integrity and media was the thing right now, it's just

1030
00:57:07,880 --> 00:57:11,440
the oligarchs who were funneling algorithms and propaganda and essentially

1031
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:14,519
spoon feeding a culture that's way too eager to lap

1032
00:57:14,559 --> 00:57:16,679
it up. There are just a few few people out

1033
00:57:16,679 --> 00:57:19,239
there I think resisting. There needs to be more. But

1034
00:57:19,239 --> 00:57:21,719
those are those are smart ideas, Ray, and I appreciate

1035
00:57:21,760 --> 00:57:23,000
you offering those on the show.

1036
00:57:23,360 --> 00:57:23,960
Speaker 12: Makes sense.

1037
00:57:24,119 --> 00:57:27,800
Speaker 2: All right, be good, see you later. How would you

1038
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:32,760
fix the news? Most of news today is just punditry,

1039
00:57:33,360 --> 00:57:37,000
it's opinion. You get a twenty four hour news cycle

1040
00:57:37,079 --> 00:57:39,920
and they're filling the cycle and they know what sells,

1041
00:57:39,960 --> 00:57:43,239
and outrage is usually what sells. If it bleeds, it

1042
00:57:43,360 --> 00:57:48,599
leads rage. People love rage, click bait, rage bait. How

1043
00:57:48,599 --> 00:57:52,079
do you fix that? Would people even respond to a

1044
00:57:52,159 --> 00:57:55,559
channel that was just this happened at this time, and

1045
00:57:55,760 --> 00:57:59,440
here are the facts surrounding it. The missile fell here,

1046
00:58:00,079 --> 00:58:03,840
it appears to have originated here. The casualty numbers are this,

1047
00:58:04,440 --> 00:58:07,800
The results are that is one, two, three, four, five.

1048
00:58:08,159 --> 00:58:11,320
People even watch that, probably not, They're going to want

1049
00:58:11,360 --> 00:58:14,639
somebody who is pounding the table and sounding off about

1050
00:58:14,679 --> 00:58:18,480
how they feel about it. So our news really isn't news,

1051
00:58:18,800 --> 00:58:21,760
is it? And if it was, it would be totally

1052
00:58:21,840 --> 00:58:25,519
drowned out and ultimately canceled because people who have been

1053
00:58:25,559 --> 00:58:29,519
weaned in an entertainment culture would rather have entertainment than news.

1054
00:58:30,039 --> 00:58:33,719
That's my two cents. I got a run. I so

1055
00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:36,800
appreciate you being a part of the broadcast, and I

1056
00:58:36,840 --> 00:58:39,360
will catch you back here very very soon.

1057
00:58:39,639 --> 00:58:43,199
Speaker 1: Follow The Thinking Atheist on Facebook and Twitter for a

1058
00:58:43,239 --> 00:58:46,840
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1059
00:58:46,840 --> 00:58:50,519
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1060
00:58:50,599 --> 00:58:54,199
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1061
00:58:54,280 --> 00:59:01,480
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